.66 3 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



011 898 998 3 



pH8J 




REM ARKS, 



DISCOURSE ON SLAVERY, 



G. W. BLAGDEN. 



BOSTON: 
TICKNOll, ilEED, AND FIELDS. 

MDCCCMV. 



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TIIUIJSTOX, TOriliy, AND EllEHSON, PRISTEKf 




K E M A R K S, 



IIece>;t events induce me to publisli a Discourse 
prcaclied to those whom I serve in the Gospel, on 
our annual "Fast-Day," (April 8, 1847,) now nearly 
seven years ago. 

It was the request of some of my friends, that it 
should be published, at that time. But, I declined 
to comply with it, principally, fiom a great unwil- 
lingness to enter into any public discussion on this 
"vexed question ; " and partly, because, however fully 
persuaded in my own mind of the substantial cor- 
rectness of my views of it, — views not even then 
hastily adopted, — I was desirous of letting time and 
experience test their truth, and reverse any prejudices, 
and allay any undue excitement, of which I might be 
unconsciously the subject. 

The progress of almost every day, since that time ; 
and above all, the developments in our national 
senate, which drew forth the sentiments of the late 
and lamented Webster, so nobly expressed by him, 
on this subject, in 1850, — have confirmed me in the 
opinions here expressed and enforced. 

This whole question, to my mind, wears an aspect 
far more solemn and responsible than a merely po- 
litical one — greatly and deservedly important as that 
is admitted to be. It is a question which, if I am 



not deceived, includes in it principles essential to 
the best iniiuence, if not to the vitality itself, of the 
gospel I profess to preach. And hence springs the 
interest I avo^v, and take, in its ultimate satisfactory 
solution. 

It is often, and properly urged, as one of the 
corroborative evidences of the Divine origin of Chris- 
tianity, that it works kindly, yet most effectually, 
•with all the institutions of human society established 
by human law, wherever that law does not directly 
and palpably clash with the Divine. Without ever 
directly breaking them up, and producing sudden 
convulsions, it surely infuses its purifying and ele- 
vating principles into all of them, — reforming long- 
established abuses ; correcting long-indulged errors ; 
and, like a purer air introduced into a bad atmos- 
phere, giving new health and vigor to whatever was 
suffering from its effects. It is essential to the best 
influence of the gospel, that this, its characteristic, 
should be faithfully preserved by its friends in all 
their efforts to promote it. But, in my own view, it 
is not thus preserved, by assuming, in our efforts to 
remove from our country the acknowledged CA'ils of 
southern slavery, and eventually slavery itself, that 
it condemns as always and necessarily sinful, the 
domestic relation of master and slave. Such an as- 
sumption is contrary to fact. Its practical influence 
has been, and is, to produce a course of speech and 
action, in all wlio adopt it towards the south, 
needk'ssly irritating ; and to lead to the conclusion, 
already openly and somewhat virulently avowed by 
some among us, that the churches, the clergy, and 



the Bible itself, must be cast aside, as faithless and 
false to the higliest and dearest interests of the hu- 
man race, if they maintain such principles. 

I know that it is often said, in reply to this, that 
the system of southern slavery in the United States 
is one entirely different from that which existed, by 
the appointment of God, among the Jewish people. 
But this, if admitted, by no means alters the prin- 
ciples on which we ought to proceed in the removal 
of all other systems of domestic servitude. And 
besides, it cannot be denied that slavery among 
the Romans, into the midst of which Christianity 
came — and with reference to the conduct of masters 
and servants, in which, it gave explicit directions, — 
was, in many of its features, far more cruel than the 
system now existing in our own land. And yet 
the Saviour and His apostles never, in a single in- 
stance, directly attacked that system ; but clearly 
and fully condemned all the sins committed in it, 
and fully inculcated all the virtues it demanded. In 
this way, Christ infuses principles into society which 
will surely arrest and eradicate all its evils, without 
convulsing it. 

This is the true principle for His preachers and 
His disciples ever to keep in mind, and sustain among 
men. If they do not, in my view, they are faithless 
to one of the chief elements of the gospel, and open 
the door to many evils, and very false ideas of gen- 
uine liberty. 

Nor will it do to say, as I have heard some 
intimate, that the Word of God is not intended to 
inculcate permanent rules for our guidaiice in the 



tnore advancoti stages of civilization. But, that we are 
to apply to such a system of slavery as exists in this 
country, the principle that Paul applied to the men 
of Athens respecting the past systems of idolatry, — 
that the times of this ignorance God winked at, but 
now commands all men every where to repent. This 
may be permitted, and is indeed required, in reference 
to evils directly specified, as those to which it is ap- 
plied. But, if we presume to apply it to others, and 
especially to those in regard to which other kinds of 
directions are given in the Word of God, — we im- 
mediately fall into the dangerous error of admitting 
that there is an " inner light " • — which a man may 
follow — brighter and clearer than that which di- 
rectly emanates from the revealed rule of Heaven. 
This I understand to be that dangerous doctrine of 
the " higher law," of which so much has been said, 
and which Webster, if I rightly remember, so justly 
condemned in the United States Senate. He did not 
mean, in my opinion, to intimate, for a moment, that 
the Bible was not the law to which all should sub- 
mit, and which all should obey. But he reprehended 
tlie principles and practice of those who, wise " above 
that which is written," would fain improve on the 
Scriptures themselves, in their zeal to destroy the 
system of slavery. 

Before leaving this bearing of the subject on the 
fundamental principles of the Gospel in its progress 
among men, I must add, that the habit, so prevalent 
of attacking the relation of master and slave itself, 
instead of the sins committed in it against God and 
man, really betrays very superficial views of the 




.,^^-^ 



exceeding evil of ull sin. For, not in tli( 
itself, but in the states of mind develop(;d in it, does 
iniquity essentially consist. And therefoie, I most 
deeply and sincerely iear, that in the sight of Ilim 
■who looketli not " on the outward appearance," but 
" on the heart," there is as much of evil, to say the 
least, often exhibited in the virtuperative and malign 
language used by ultra anti-slavery men at the North 
against their countrymen of Christian character and 
standing, Avho do not agree with them in their peculiar 
theories, as ever works itself out from the knotted lash 
of a Southern slave-driver ! " Suppose ye that these 
Galilteans were sinners above all tlie Galikcans, be- 
cause they suffered such things I I tell you nay ; but, 
except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." 

I close with the remark that there are, in my ap- 
prehension, many persons in this community, who 
really adopt the principles avowed and vindicated in 
this pamphlet, but whose words in respect to slavery 
are, perhaps, misunderstood, and certainly misapplied, 
so as to inculcate very opposite doctrines, and a cor- 
responding practice. Indeed, it has been one of the 
lamentable facts on this subject in New England, that 
many have been so deeply impressed with the enor- 
mity of the sins and evils connected with slavery in 
this country, that in their language, and sometimes in 
their acts respecting it, they have given influence to 
the principles of those ultra abolitionists among us, 
some of whom would willingly disband the churches 
of Christ, and disclaim the Bible itself as a rule of 

faith and practice. 

G. W. B. 
Boston, Makcii 1, 1854. 



2 BOSTON, ^j 



DISCOURSE 



COLOSSIANS, III. II. 

" WHERE THERE IS NEITHER GREEK NOR JEW, CIRCUMCISION NOR CNCItt- 
CCMCISION, BARBARIAN, SCYTHIAN, BOND NOR FREE ; BUT CHRIST 13 ALL, 
AND IN ALL." 



In tlic proclamation of the Governor, appointing 
this annual Fast, he invites the people to pray to God, 
"That He will restrain the limits of slavery in our 
own, and in other lands, and hasten the time when 
the interests and the happiness of the Master and 
Slave shall be advanced by bursting the chains of 
every bondman on the face of the earth." 

AVe have accordingly united in prayer this morn- 
ing, that God would be pleased to remove the many 
and great sins and evils connected with the system of 
slavery in our own and in other countries, and ear- 
nestly and I trust sincerely and acceptably asked, that 
He would break the arm of every oppressor, and let 
the oppressed go free. 

Whenever we offer such a petition, it is essential to 
its efficacy, that it be offered intelligently and scriptu- 
rally. And I have therefore felt it my duty, as the 
whole subject has been brought so directly before 
our minds by our Chief Magistrate, to direct your 



10 

attention tliis morning, first, to the sins and evils 
connected with tlie system of slavery in our coun- 
try ; and secondly, to tlie scriptural principles which 
should i;uide us in our jirayers and eftbrts to remove 
them. 

The time has come, I think, when I may, with 
propriety, speak directly, clearly, and fully on this 
interesting topic. And in doing so, all I ask is, 
that you will allow me to hope that you will be kind 
enough to hear me patiently and candidly ; — and 
then, like the noble Bereans, search the Scriptures, 
whether the things I speak are so. (Acts 17: 11.) 

Certainly on a topic of such vital interest to re- 
ligion, and the moral as well as political welfare of 
our beloved country, a minister of the gospel ought to 
have an opinion ; and is bound on any proper occa- 
sion, and in a proper spirit to declare it. 

First. The sins and evils of slavery, in this coun- 
try, are great, extensively acknowledged, and widely 
felt. 

In no circumstances, and in no relation of life, can 
man be safely trusted wdth so much irresponsible 
power over his fellow-man, as that with which every 
slaveholder is invested, in our Southern States; and 
as that with which slaveholders were clothed in our 
own Commonwealth not much more than sixty years 
ago. 

"Wherever xnan wields this power, such is the tend- 
ency of our nature, that he becomes greatly insensible 
to many of the evils into which he himself ilills, and 
which he may be constantly, and often unconsciously, 
inflicting on others. 







-^•^^OCI/vT^' 



11 



In the present case, and in respect to the e\ils en- 
dured both by tlie master and the slave in our own 
country, this is strikingly seen. 

There is good evidence, that, in many cases, the 
marriage relation is broken, by the ininecessary 
separation of husband and wife, -without regard to 
law. In most, I believe in all of the Slave States, it 
is an offence against law to teach the slaves to read ; 
and although religious instruction is allowed to be 
given, to any extent, by preaching and every other 
form of speech, and is given happily, and with 
blessed effects to a very great extent in such forms; 
yet the Bible of course cannot be circulated and read, 
and all that religious and intellectual improvement 
which results from such a blessing is withheld. 
Children are often sold into bondage, at a great dis- 
tance from their parents, and parents from their chil- 
dren. Families are broken up. The most cruel pun- 
ishments are sometimes inflicted, under the influence 
of uncontrolled passions. Great facilities are afforded 
for licentiousness, and little motive presented and 
enforced for the doing of the good which Christians 
have an opportunity to do to a large and increasing 
mass of their fellow-beings. 

The masters themselves are, in i3;iany cases, aware of 
these sins and evils, and groan under them. In 
many instances they are doing what they can for 
their removal. But in too many other cases, they 
seem to be either entirely insensible to their exist- 
ence, or they openly and passionately defend them ; 
and virulently oppose all agitation of the question of 
duty respecting this increasingly important subject. 



12 

At the same time no reasonable man can deny, that 
the system of slavery, in a number of the Southern 
States is, as it respects the political economy of the 
subject, entirely a losing one. While in its moral 
effects, though it may possibly be favorable, in some 
degree, to the promotion of a doubtful kind of chival- 
rous and hospitable character in masters, yet its 
tendency is to hurt essentially the promotion of a 
vigorous and persevering tone of mind; because it 
brings manual labor of every kind into disrepute, 
and tends to cherish the false idea, that the highest 
moral and intellectual refinement may not be reached 
by due care, in every department of human effort. 

But I need not enlarge on the sins and evils 
connected with the system of slavery, at present 
existing in our native land. They form a theme for 
passionate declamation and oratorical display, which 
affords one of the best opportunities that has ever 
been offered, for public speakers of warm feelings and 
vivid imaginations to distinguish themselves. Too 
many, I fear, have eloquently exposed and depre- 
cated the evils, without troubling themselves to go 
into that patient study of the whole subject, which 
alone can lead to those proper distinctions between 
things that differ, that can effect any permanent reme- 
dy. This is the principal reason why it will be 
profitable for us, this morning, to consider this sub- 
ject; a subject which has seemed to me, for years, 
to have been so prolific in false and unscriptural, and 
very dangerous modes of reasoning and acting in 
many good men, that every one who would love his 
country with a Christian patriotism, is bound to do 



13 



all in Ills power to obtain for himself, and disseminate 
among his fellow-citizens, correct views of it. 

To do this, so far as I may be capable of doing it, 
I ask your attention, — 

Secondly, — to the scriptural principles which 
should guide ns in our prayers and efforts to remove 
the sins and evils we have been considering. 

I say the scriptural principles which should guide 
lis, because, speaking as I do to a church and relig- 
ious society, it is my wish to take only a religious and 
moral view of the whole subject. This must, of 
course, have its bearing on much that is political in 
respect to it. But into the political part of it, it is 
not my province, even were I capable of it, to enter. 
That should be left to other persons and places. 

What, then, are the scriptural principles which 
should guide the Christian churches and societies of 
our land in their prayers and efforts to remove the 
sins and evils connected with southern slavery 1 
This is the question to which I ask your attention. 

And the text, 1 think, includes in it all that is 
necessary to a clear and satisfactory reply. 

It declares, that in the new man, — or that regen- 
erated state of mind produced by true obedience to 
the gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, of 
which the apostle was treating when he wrote it, — 
" There is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor 
uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: 
but Christ is all, and in all." 

And in teaching this, it does but repeat a truth the 
apostle had before enforced in almost the same words 
on the churches in Galatia ; that in Christ there is 




14 

neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, 
there is neither male nor female : but men are all one 
in Christ Jesus. (Gal. 3 : 28.) 

Now I hold these passages to teach, beyond all 
reasonable doubt, — especially when they arc compared 
with a number of other declarations of the Word of 
God — that in promoting true obedience to the gos- 
pel of Christ among men, and of course all those 
])olitical, social, and domestic reforms incidental to 
its advancement, neither their natural, nor their 
civil and social relations are ever to be suddenly 
interrupted or directly attacked ; but Christian 
preachers and churches are simply and carefully to 
aim at the sins against God and man committed in 
these relations. 

You will notice that the text fairly implies that it 
is, and will be, just as certain that the political and 
social relations of which it speaks may, and probably 
would exist under the gospel, as that the natural 
relations of which it speaks would exist. It implies 
it to be just as probable that there would be, under 
the gospel, men who were bond, and men Mho were 
free, as that there would be males and females, Jews 
or Greeks, Barbarians or Scythians. And it just as 
clearly affirms that the gospel, in its true nature and 
influence, had nothing directly to do with either. 
But all that it had to do was, to make every man to 
whom it came, — whether bond or free, Jew or Greek, 
Barbarian or Scythian, a new creature in Christ 
Jesus : or, — to use the words immediately introduc- 
tory to it, and with which it is immediately connected 
— to make every one " put off the old man with his 



15 




deeds ; and put on tlic new man, -which " is\,^^\ypd ^^. 
in knowlcdere after the imaffc of Ilim that c?c«tea — 



him." That is, it is just as possible for men to be 
renewed in knowledge after the image of God, by 
whom men are created anew in Christ Jesus unto 
good works, when they arc> bond or free, as it is 
when they are Jews or Greeks, circumcised or un- 
circumciscd. Barbarians or Scythians. 

It is not at forms that the gosjjcl mainly looks, 
but at realities ; not at outward, natural, domestic, or 
political relations, but at spiritual and eternal rela- 
tions: not at the things which are Ca?sar's, but at 
those which are God's ; not at the natural or conven- 
tional relations men hold to one another, but at the 
religious relations they sustain to God. If these last 
be right, there is not the least ground for reasonable 
doubt but that all the others either are, or shall be, in 
due time, right also. 

This, then, is the leading, the fundamental prin- 
ciple, which should guide us in all our prayers and 
eiforts to remove the sins and evils connected with 
slavery, here or elsewhere, — in this or other lands. 

If faithfully followed out, it will imply and require 
several things, and avoid a number of dangerous 
evils, to which I now ask your attention. 

It will imply and require, that in praying and 
striving to remove the sins and evils connected with 
slavery, we do not assert that the relation of master 
and slave is, in all cases, and necessarily, a sinful one. 

This, I am persuaded, has been a fundamental 
error with multitudes on this subject. Appalled and 
shocked as they have been at the many sins and evils 



16 

connected with slavery, and determined as they have 
been to oppose and root them out, they have been 
unable and unwilling to suppose for a moment that 
slavery could ever exist, in any form or circumstances 
without them, and therefore have loudly called slave- 
holding, in all circumstances, a sin against God and 
man. 

And yet, nothing can be more unscriptural than 
such a position ; nothing more at variance with what 
a number of the most pious and gifted men have 
believed, in the light of the Scriptures ; and few 
things more prolific of many threatening evils. 

The position that the connection of master and 
slave is necessarily a sinful one, is unscriptural. 

It is so, first, because God Himself, who cannot 
look upon iniquity but with abhorrence, once posi- 
tively recognised and appointed a system of slavery 
among the Jews. And, however He may have suf- 
fered long with certain practices among His ancient 
people, which were not wholly agreeable to His will, 
for the purest and best reasons, no one will have the 
hardihood to affirm that He would ever have posi- 
tively commanded any thing in itself sinful. 

And yet nothing can be more clear than the plain- 
ness with which He said to the Israelites : — " Both 
thy bondmen and bondmaids, which thou shalt have 
shall be of the heathen that are round about you ; of 
them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids. More- 
over, of the children of the strangers that sojourn 
among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their fam- 
ilies that are with you, which they begat in your 
land: and they shall be your possession. And ye 



17 IS BCSTOn. Y4 



a 



shall take tlioin as an iulun-itaiiro for yoi)r ^iiobTal^^J^ 
after you, to inherit thein for a possession ; they" stiTi 
be your bondman forever: but o\cr your bretliren, 
the children of Israel, ye shall not ride one over an- 
other with rigor." (Lev. 25 : 44-4().) 

We know that it is often said, that this was an 
arrangeuKMit of the Old Testament dispensation, to be 
entirely done away with under the clearer li<;lit of the 
gospel of Christ, as our Saviour abrogated jiolygamy; 
and tliat it is folly to go back to the I.evitical dispen- 
sation with the hope of advocating slavery now. 

But to this we reply, that independently of the 
fact we have already cited, that while God was 
pleased only to bear with polygamy for a season, 
He positively instituted a system of slavery among 
the Jews, which He never would have done, had 
it been in all cases positively and absolutely sin- 
ful. Independently of this, our Sa^•iour did not abro- 
gate slavery under the New Testament, as He did 
abrogate the Jewish custom of a plurality of wives. 

So far from this. His inspired apostle not only 
teaches us in the text, that the relation of master 
and slave, or bond and free, might be expected to 
exist under His gospel, but He also repeatedly gives 
directions to masters and slaves how to bear them- 
selves towards each other, as fellow-disciples of the 
same lledeemer ; saying to them among other things, 
and in the very chapter from which the text is 
taken' — ^ " Servants, (ihco.<„) obey in all things your 
masters according to the flesh : not with eye-service, 
as men-pleasers ; but with singleness of heart, fearing 
God." (Ver. 22.) And then, in the first verse of 
3 



18 

the next chapter — " Masters, give unto your servants 
that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also 
have a Master in heaven." 

No candid person will deny that the word " ser- 
vants " here, and in most (if not all other) places in 
the Xew Testament, means slaves. Nor will any such 
person affirm that these slaves, though their form of 
servitude differed in some respects from that which 
prevails in our own country, at the present time, were 
less exposed to cruelty than our own. 

Both the Greeks and Romans had the power of 
life and death over their slaves : and the punishments 
to which they were subjected under cruel masters, 
were fav more severe than any which prevail in this 
country. Their masters often extorted confession 
from them by torture. " Whips and thongs were not 
the most dreadful instruments of punishment. Burn- 
ing alive, is mentioned as a punishment in the pan- 
dects and elsewhere." " The noses, ears, teeth, or 
even eyes, were in great danger from an enraged 
master. Crucifixion was frequently made the fate of 
a wretched slave for trifling misconduct, or for mere 
caprice." — (See Slavery among the Greeks and J\o- 
mans, in BiblicaL Eejmsitori/, Vol vi., j). 421, 422; 
Vok v., p. 149, 150.) 

Now if, notwithstanding all this, the inspired 
apostles of Christ, (however they would have con- 
demned and exterminated all such cruelties as these,) 
nevertheless so far recognised the relation of master 
and slave, as to direct and exhort them how to behave 
in a Christian manner to one another, who will be 



SO presmnptuoiis as to say, that tlic rdatiui\of l>ond ,.•; 
and free must be, in itself, and always, sinful? - . ^Q^^tA-J ^ 

Wc never read similar directions and exhortations 
in the New Testament, addressed to a plurality of 
wives of the same husband : and why I Because 
after our Saviours prohibition of the practice of 
polygamy, it became sinful. Surel}, therefore, the 
apostles would never have exhorted men how to be- 
have themselves toward one another in a relation 
which was, in its essential nature, sinful. 

Accordingly, as has been already intimated, wc find 
many men, of the best characters, and most compre- 
hensive minds, strenuously maintaining the position 
here assumed; and, wdiat is quite satisfactory, doing it 
in circumstances different from our own, and in places 
where it Avould not perhaps, by many, have been ex- 
pected. 

The late Mr. Canning, in a speech delivered in the 
British House of Commons in 1826, said — "It is 
impossible, whatever may be men's wishes or feelings, 
it is impossible to maintain, for a moment, that 
slavery and the Christian religion are incapable of 
existing together. They do exist together ; they 
have existed together from the very first dawning of 
Christianity ; they have existed together down to the 
present time. The spirit of that religion, Christianity, 
is to tame the proud, and to assist the lowly ; but it 
does not do that by sudden changes, by the destruc- 
tion of existing systems, by revolutions of danger and 
of blood. It mounts the throne of all the Cccsars, it 
can comfort the poor captive in his cell, but it has 
been preached in the streets of ancient Rome, at a 



20 



time uhen scn-i cruciantur M'as the ordinary process 
of the forum." — •" Neither the tenets of the C.'liristian 
religion, nor the spirit of the British Constitution, 
call upon Parliament to abolish slavery, at the risk of 
public safety, or private wrong." — (^See Canning's 
Life, Vol. ii.*, ]). 252.) 

At an earlier time, Bishop Watson, who so well 
defended Christianity and the Bible against Gibbon 
and Paine, expressed similar sentiments. lie said in 
a speech delivered in the House of Lords — "God 
cannot authorize injustice. But he did authorize 
slavery amongst the Jews; therefoj-e slavery is not 
opposite to justice. Nor am I certain that slavery is 
any where expressly forbidden by the letter of the 
New Testament. Man-stealing is, indeed, expressly 
forbidden to Christians, as it was, under the penalty of 
death, forbidden to the Jews." — [Anecdotes of the 
Life of Bishop Watson, p. 377.) 

The celebrated historian, Prideaux, in writing of 
the Jewish sect of the Essenes, says, in exposing their 
errors — " They forbade marriage, which God had 
ordained from the beginning, and absolutely con- 
demned servitude, which the holy Scriptures of the 
New Testament, as well as the Old, allow. — (Pri- 
deaiLV, Vol. iii., p. 480.) And Calvin Avrites, in his 
Institutes — "Why is it that the same apostle who, 
in one place, exhorts to stand f\ist in the liberty 
wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not 
entangled again with the yoke of bondage, in another, 
enjoins servants to ' care not for their servile con- 
dition;' except, that spiritual liberty may very well 
consist with civil servitude 1 ' In this sense,' he adds, 




21 



'we are likewise to niulcrstaiid him in 
sages, — "• Tlierc is iieillicr Jew nor Gree 
neither Loud nor free, there is neither ni 
male." Again — "There is neither Greek nor Jew, 
circumcision nor uncircumseision, Barharian, ISc} thian, 
bond or free, but Christ is all, and in all ; — in which 
he signiiies, that it is of no importance wliat is our 
condition among men, or under the laws of what na- 
tion we life, as the kingdom of Christ consists not in 
these things." — (Calvin s Inst, Book iv., Chapter xx., 
paragraph 1st.) 

Other more modern instances of the same kind 
might be cited, but these are enough ; * and they arc 
brought forward here to show that this view of the 
teachings of the Bible has been taken by wise men, 
and ripe scholars, in places and times remote from the 
exciting causes whicli might warp our conclusions, in 
this country, at this time, by the power of prejudice 
and passion. The great reason, why this view of it 
seems to me important to be taken by all of us is, 
that it will give great advantages, and save from very 
common and wide-spread dangers, in all our prayers 
and efforts against the sins and evils of slavery. 

Some of them, we shall now brief!}- name. 

1. Such a position will powerfully commend itself 
to the consciences of the holders of slaves. 

Say to the enlightened and conscientious person, 
who sustains such a connection with any of hi< fel- 
low men, — The system, under wliich you now life, 
is one in which the sanctity of marriage is very 



* See Note at the close of the Discourse. 



22 

generally disregarded ; men are not taught to read 
the Avord of God under it ; the nearest and dearest 
family ties are often ruthlessly torn apart under it ; 
licentiousness greatly prevails ; the most cruel pun- 
isliments are often inflicted ; and above all, the spirits 
of immortal and accountable beings, like yourself, 
are very generall}- trodden down and crushed by it. 
Say such things as these to him, and you commend 
yourself to his conscience in the sight of God. He 
feels it. He laments it. He is ready to ask you, 
What shall I do 1 He is, as many such even now 
are in our country, ready for some kind of action. 

But take the other course ; — and begin to say to 
him, that just because he owns slaves, he is a heinous 
and aggravated sinner against God and man; — ex- 
clude him from your communion if he be a pro- 
fessing Christian ; ■ — close your pulpits against him, 
if he be a preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ ; — 
refuse his contributions to missionary or any other 
benevolent societies, because you say they are the 
price of blood, wrung from the arteries and veins 
of fellow-men ; — refrain from bidding him God-speed 
in his eflbrts to build up and multiply Christian 
churches, because some in their communion are 
holders of slaves ; — take such positions and assert 
and carry out such principles as these ; — begin thus 
to condemn as sinful an outward relation among 
men, recognised by human law, as Clirist and his 
apostles never did, — instead of condemning the sins 
committed in that relation, — and calling to repent- 
ance for them, which they always did ; — proceed 
in such unscriptural and unwise ways as these ; — 



23 

and what hold can von roasonahlv liopo tp nave 
npon the conscience of snch mm ? We ntigliL 
ahnost ask with the Apostle Tanl, on anotlu^r sub- 
ject, — " Doth not even nature itself teach you," — 
'■ it is a shame ? " Imagine that the same amount of 
time, talent, and passion which have been spent in 
this country for some years past, in unscripturally de- 
nouncing all men who live amid the e^•ils of slavery, 
had been spent in " reasoning with them out of tlie 
Scriptures " respecting the sins and evils connected 
with the system, and how much more good would 
have been done! Hqw much more evil have been 
prevented ! 

It was my intention, in showing the evils from 
which the view of slavery now advocated would save 
us, as we pray and trust to remove the sins con- 
nected with it, to speak of several dangers which 
probably every one of you has noticed : — all as I 
think, growing out of the single unscriptural position, 
that slaveholding is always a sin against God and 
man. But they can only now be briefly named. 

It would save us from an unchristian and inconsis- 
tent censoriousness. To some forms of this, allusion 
has been already made. I cannot but add to these, 
the unchristian inconsistency of many of the citizens 
of our mother country, — who with thousands of her 
inhabitants starving to death, partly, if not princi- 
pally through their own misgovernment of them, in 
the relation of subjects, are disposed to exclude 
many of our preachers of Christ from their pulpits, 
and religious conventions, because they come from a 
land where there are slaves, — who live in perfect 




24 

moral as well as physical bliss, contrasted with many 
of tlic ii^iiorant and dci^radcd among their own 
countrymen ! 

'2. The i)osition Ave advocate would save us from 
acting on wrong religious principles. 

It would lead us to feel and act as if we felt, tliat 
tlie most awful sin against God is confined, pre- 
eminently, to no relation of human society, recognised 
by liiinian law, but that it may, and alas, too often 
does exist and operate in all of them. It is very 
striking and instructive to notice how the single 
false principle I have been trying to expose, has 
operated in many of its advocates to run into re- 
ligious error — and strive to overthrow the churches 
of Christ, and the Christian ministry, — calling them 
sometimes, "dumb dogs that will not bark;" how 
it has led many of them to deny the moral obligation 
of the Sabbath, and entirely to desert the public 
worship of God ; and induced them willingly to 
unite with all men, I may truly say, of all kinds of 
character, if they would only agree with them, in 
their one unscriptural principle, — that every man 
who holds a slave is a sinner above all other sinners, 
because he suffers such things. 

AVc may rest assured, that there is something 
radically wrong in any principles which produce 
such effects as these. The view I ha\e taken ex- 
poses the error, and if we heed it, we shall, so far 
as our influence may extend, save ourselves and others 
from its evil consequences. 

It was my wish to show, that this view will also 
save from false ideas of ])olitical freedom. 




But theio is not time left me to speak\.of-^$!9f)Cl^' 
important a sul)j(x-t uitli sufficient care. I musf;"" 
however, call your attention to the fact, that the 
whole tendency of the modes of reasoning into 
which the error I would ex[)ose leads men is, to 
attack existing human laws, — in some cases, to try 
and overthroAV the very Constitution of the country. 
And I would call your attention to the consistency of 
such persons ; for, they stand to their principles. If 
the relation of master and slave be, in all cases, a sin- 
ful one, then it is not to be tampered with in the 
Constitution, or any where else, — since " we ought to 
obey God rather than man." — and should never " fol- 
low a multitude to do evil." Their consistency there- 
fore is, at least, to be respected. They fairly follow 
out their own conclusions; while others, who admit 
their premises, shrink from the consequences. 

To such extremes men always will run, whenever, 
wise " above that which is written," they are not sub- 
missive to the true principles of the eternal AYord of 
God. For myself, I have no doubt, that the very 
elements of those false views of what constitutes 
true liberty, which produced the French Revolution, 
are hidden, like a serpent in the grass, in the false 
modes of reasoning produced by the error I oppose. 
It is full of evil, in its nature and tendencies. 

What, then, is the conclusion at which I would 
arrive "? 

It is, that in condemning the sins of men, and 
calling them to repentance and to Christ, we are to 
let the outward relations of society, as established by 



26 

human law, alone, and faithfully condemn the sins 
committed in those relations. 

AVe are to condemn the sins, Avith the utmost faith- 
fulness, — whether the sin he oppression, — or the 
hreakiiig up of the family state, — or the marriage 
tie, — or the withholding of the Bible, — or religious 
instruction from fellow-men, — or the failure to do 
them good, in any form, as men may have oppor- 
tunity. 

In respect to these and all other sins against the 
eternal laws of God, we are to " Lift up the voice like 
a trumpet ! cry aloud and spare not ; and show God's 
people their transgressions, and the house of Israel 
their sins." 

But, in doing this, we are to let all outward dis- 
tinctions, recognised and established by human law, 
whether that of king and subject, or master and 
slave, alone. As Christian preachers of "Christ cruci- 
fied," and Christian churches and societies, we have 
nothing to do with them. 

Neither Christ nor His apostles ever interfered 
with them. 

In the times of Timothy some thought differently 
from this ; and therefore Paul said : — " Let as many 
servants as are under the yoke count their own mas- 
ters worthy of all honor, that the name of God and 
His doctrine be not blasphemed. And they that 
have believing masters, let them not despise them, 
because they are brethren ; but rather do them ser- 
vice, because they are fiithful and beloved partakers 
of the benefit. These things teach and exhort. If 
any man teach otherwise, and consent not to whole- 




27 (,w bu^"^^'" 

some words, even the words of our Lord Jes^s 0hTnrt»! - 
and to the doctrine wliicli is accordin^^ to godhliess, 
he is proud, knowin*^ nothing-, hut doting about ques- 
tions and strifes of words, whereof eometh envy, strife, 
railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men 
of corrupt minds, and destitute of the trutli, sup-, 
posing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw 
thyself" (1 Tim. G : 1 -5.) Amen. 




NOTE. 

Webster said, in his speech of March 7, 1850: "At the in- 
troduction of Christianity, the Roman workl was full of slaves, 
and I suppose there is to be found no injunction aji|;ainst that 
relation between man and man in the teachings of the <lospeI 
of Jesus Christ or of any of His Apostles. The object of the 
instruction imparted to mankind by the Founder of Christianity was 
to touch the heart, purify the soul, and improve the lives of indi- 
vidual men. That object went directly to the first fountain of all 
the political and social relations of the human race, as well as of 
all true religious feeling, the individual heart and mind of man." 
{Webster's Works, Vol. 5, p. 330.) 

The late distinguished German Biblical Scholar, and Ecclesias- 
tical Historian, Neandcr, writes, in his work on the " Planting and 
Training of the Church : " — " In speaking of the various rela- 
tions of life, in which men might be placed at the time of their 
conversion, Paul lays down as a rule, that that event should pro- . 
duce no change in this respect. Christianity did not violently 
dissolve the relations in which a man found himself placed by 
birth, education, and the teaching of Divine Providence, but taught 
him to act in them from a new point of view, and with a new 
disposition. It effected no abrupt revolutions, but gradually, by 
the power of the Spirit, working from within, made all things new. 
The Apostle applies this especially to the case of slaves, which it 
was more needful to consider, because, from the beginning, that 
gospel which was preached to the poor found much acceptance 
among this class, and the knowledge imparted to them by Christi- 
anity of the common dignity and rights of all men, might easily 
have excited them to throw off the earthly yoke. Likewise, in 
this view, Christianity, in order not to mingle worldly and spiritual 
things together, and not to miss its main object, the salvation of 
the soul, did not presume to effect by force a sudden revolution in 



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their condition, but operated only on the mind and disposition. To 
slaves the gospel presented a higlier life, which exalted them above 
tiie restraints of their earthly relation ; and though masters were 
not required by the Apostles to give their slaves freedom, since it 
was foreign to their ministry to interfere with the arrangement of 
civil relations, yet Christianity imparted to masters such a know- 
ledge of their duties to their slaves, and such dispositions towards 
them, and taught them to recognise as brethren the Christians 
among their slaves, in such a manner, as to make their relation to 
them quite a diflercnt thing. 

•Paul, therefore, when he touches on this relation, tells the slave, 
that though by the arrangement of Providence he was debarred 
from the enjoyment of outward freedom, he should not be troubled, 
but rejoice that the Lord had bestowed upon him true inward free- 
dom. But, while he considers the latter as the only true freedom, 
in the possession of which man may be free under all outward 
restraints, and apart from wliich no true freedom can exist, he is 
very far from overlooking the subordinate worth of civil freedom, 
for he says to the slave, to whom he had announced the true, the 
spiritual freedom, " But if thou mayst be free, use it rather ; " 
(1 Cor. 7 : 21.) Which implies that the Apostle viewed the state of 
freedom as more corresponding to the Christian calling-, and that 
Christianity, when it so far gained the ascendancy as to form anew 
the social relations of mankind, would bring about this change of 
state, which he declares to be an object of preference." [Planting 
and Training of the Church, Book 111. Chap. 7lh.) 



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